Probe by Margaret Wander Bonanno

Probe by Margaret Wander Bonanno
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Probe has an interesting history, while Margaret is credited as the writer she didn't infact write the published novel. Seems to be Romulan level machinations going on with the publisher but for now I can only review this novel I read.
Probe is of course a story dealing with the machine/entity which visited the Earth in ST:IV in search of intelligent marine life, this novel gives us a huge amount of backstory to this enigmatic creation in terms of its genesis, it's mission and interactions with aliens both known and unknown. We also get a very compelling plot line which deals with the Romulans holding out a potential hand of friendship (after the death of the Praetor) but of course nothing is what it seems.
I came away from this novel totally happy with the Probe storyline, in seems to fit with what little we were offered from the movie and of course does clearly indicate that the Federation and Empires are very very small and almost insignificant when viewed in terms of a million plus years of galaxy wide civilisations birth and deaths. The Romulan subplot has plenty of depth and complexity to the point where it could have been a standalone story by itself but the merging of two of the aspects through music was most satisfying in terms of scifi storytelling.
A highly recommended read for those looking for more on the Probe or just a fan of the devious Romulan Empire but with enough heart to avoid some of the cliches.

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Strangers from the Sky by Margaret Wander Bonanno

Strangers from the Sky by Margaret Wander Bonanno
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Imagine an Earth still recovering from the Third World War and Eugenic wars looking into the vastness of space and its first contact with an alien life form is through the eyes of the mass media itself peering through a lens obstructed by political and military cover ups. A blood on the walls scenario in every definition, this is the memory/dream which plagues Captain Kirk after reading a scholarly work from a human with access to information long held within Vulcan archives. Many consider it a work of fiction but when Spock returns from a training cruise of the Enterprise and shares many of the same dreams perhaps there is more to it than an interesting look into an alternate reality.
Strangers from the Sky is a very good Star Trek novel dealing with a more vulnerable Earth and humanity and using the crew of the Enterprise as seen in "Where No Man Has Gone Before" so the dynamic is shifted from the established "trio" which makes this story work. The whole premise deals with how humanity can learn and demonstrate the maturity and understanding required to be part of a galactic family and the principle that nobody can do it alone.
I did like many of the call backs to other novels and characters which is only going to pay off if you are reading novels from the same author or following the published licensed Trek books, if not then it doesn't harm the story which is a bonus. It was also interesting to see an Earth still hurting and dealing with the social, political and economic fall out before she raised herself to meet the challenge of being a major power in the galaxy. This of course is being told through the eyes of the human characters who deal hands on with the alien visitors and they too are certainly not of a single mind which gives the scifi story the personal touch that adds so much.
I've got to highly recommend this novel for anyone looking for a story offering a different first contact, in fact the book has two first contact situations neither of which line up with the TNG movie presentation so enjoy and wonder what the tv series and movies could have done.

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Dwellers in the Crucible by Margaret Wander Bonanno

Dwellers in the Crucible by Margaret Wander Bonanno
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am so glad I read this novel again and truth be told I now wonder if first time around all those years ago I never finished it. I say that because apart from one particular event I really couldn't remember any significant details of the story. I think at the time Dwellers in the Crucible was a novel I was not prepared for since you came to expect a certain type of story from a Star Trek paperback and this pushed the boundaries way back. Thankfully a good portion of the novel which is flashback counters much of the brutality of the main plot adding depth and understanding to the principal characters and in today's market the story wouldn't be as shocking but that was then and this is now and all the better for it.
The basic story is of a Romulan/Klingon endeavour to destabilise the Federation through the kidnapping of the "warranters of peace" from Vulcan, these individuals tend to be close blood kin to leaders of Federation worlds. Of course that doesn't seem to fit into what we consider the Federation to be although again modern stories are happy to push the conflict which will always exist even between members of a close knit organisation with so many different peoples with different needs and desires. I don't really want to go into any more detail, the novel is worth reading and maybe I was just being too sensitive as a younger Trek fan but again I was still disturbed reading the story but as mentioned the balance to that callous and calculating cruelty revealed two very interesting young characters one from Earth and one from Vulcan and a friendship could have the potential to equal that of another more familiar pairing within Trek.


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